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© 2026 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
John Witvliet [00:00:07] Thank you. And speaking of anxiety, the petition “Give us this day our daily bread” is really a pretty powerful way of responding to the anxiety that many people in this world feel and that all of us need to learn new dispositions about. So say a little bit about that petition: “Give us this day our daily bread.”
Mark Charles [00:00:32] I remember hearing a teacher teach one time on prayer, and they said we spend a lot of time praying for things that God has already promised. We ask God to be with us. And yet we're promised over and over by Creator in Scripture, and even through the experience of creation, that God will never leave us. He's always there. We need to pray for God to be with us, right? We need to pray that we will know where God is or feel that God is near us. That's the concern we need to be much more focused on. And again, praying for your daily bread: When you have a regular paycheck and a refrigerator full of food and a pantry full of canned goods, praying for your daily bread can lead to a disconnect, I think, of what that prayer is actually about. And so oftentimes what I will pray in place of “Provide daily bread,” at least for myself individually, I will pray and ask God to give me a glad and generous heart that day. “God, I have more than enough to eat today. May I be generous with the people I meet. May I have a generous and giving heart with the people I interact with. May I be able to share the abundance that you've given me.” Because if we just pray “Give us today our daily bread,” what we begin to do is we begin to not be content with what is simplistic. I mean, Jesus would pray this; even when he provided food for 5000 people, it was bread and fish. It wasn't like this massive gourmet meal, you know? And here we're eating steak and chicken and vegan stuff and all that. So when you begin to pray that way, it begins to become more about what you want than about what you need. And when you pray that prayer and you already have everything you need, then it just becomes “I want this and I want this, God.” And so I actually try to be disciplined about . . . I need to remember what God already provided for me. And so I have more than enough bread to eat today. The biggest concern is not what am I going to eat at noon or at five. The biggest concern I need to be most concerned about is, am I going to be generous with people I interact with today. Because there's a lot of people who don't have enough to eat, whether it's in my immediate context or around the globe. And so I do pray, as Jesus does here, on a global scale: “Give us today our daily bread.” He's very communal in his language. But I also try to acknowledge that if I pray that individually it can lead to a spirit of discontent because you begin praying for what you want instead of what you need. And so I try to use this part of the prayer to focus more on my own heart and am I going to be generous today. And then when I do need things, whether it's—beyond bread, I have a task I'm doing that day; I have a project, and there's needs for that—I will [pray], “Father, give me what I need to accomplish this.” But I try to be less specific.
I've talked about this in other teachings I've given: God is Creator. And so often we treat God like a banker. And we ask God for money and for all these things—”God, I need these finances to accomplish this thing” instead of “God, you're Creator.” Understanding the difference between God as Creator, which is who God is, and God as a banker, which is who our society largely says God is . . . It's so easy to pray, especially in this section of the prayer where we're talking about daily needs, to simply treat God as a banker instead of treating God as a Creator. If God is a banker, when Moses is at the Red Sea, what would he pray? He would pray for the resources to build a bridge, right? Instead, he's there with Creator, and Creator does things differently. He parts the sea, right? I mean, that's just two completely different ways of thinking. And I think how we pray this prayer can help define who do we see God as. Do we see God as a banker? Or do we see God as a Creator? Do we allow space for God to answer our prayers as a Creator, or do we pray so specifically and so even demandingly that the only way we can see God do something is if God interacts with us as a banker? And that's the dangerous part of this section of the prayer, is we pray for things we want instead of what we actually need, and then we end up being disappointed or even selfish with what we have. Or we use this part of the prayer to interact with God as a banker instead of interacting with God as Creator.
How does one think about diversity as a Christian or as the church? How might working with and among—or even just thinking about—migrant neighbors contribute to our ecclesial identity? The language of catholicity allows us to imagine the unity of the church not in a monocultural way, but rather as a community inclusive of people of all languages and ethnicities. Migration and migrants today especially remind the church of its own catholic identity. How does the church's identity as a migrant church foster a healthy catholicity in the church's worship? This session will include the use of salsa music to invite participation in a more catholic way of life, asking what multicultural, cross cultural, and intercultural ways of being a church on the move might look like in worship.
As inhabitants of the modern age, we are deeply marked by skewed ways of thinking that thwart our humanness, our involvement with the world, and our spirituality. This is a philosophical tune-up that directly challenges and dispels modernity’s implicit philosophy. My philosophical proposals in my 2023 book Doorway to Artistry target the creative process, but they positively affect and bring healing to all arenas of life and work and worship. I pose that we as human persons are meant to live out a joyous “yes” to the real, and our involvement with the real takes the form of intimate encounter and communion. My approach reflects especially on God’s creative act and God’s created things. It taps epiphany, the redemptive encounter, and the Eucharist as paradigms for our knowing, our artistry, and all our everyday involvement with the world, so it should make us better at our stewardly dominion and voicing creation’s praise in worship.
Explore the compelling beauty of the Bible's covenantal vision of the divine-human relationship and the transformative difference this makes for how we worship the triune God. This session will feature insights from the authors of two influential books: Esther Lightcap Meek's Loving to Know: A Covenantal Epistemology and Daniel Block's Covenant: The Framework of God's Grand Plan of Redemption.
How does one think about diversity as a Christian or as the church? How might working with and among—or even just thinking about—migrant neighbors contribute to our ecclesial identity? The language of catholicity allows us to imagine the unity of the church not in a monocultural way, but rather as a community inclusive of people of all languages and ethnicities. Migration and migrants today especially remind the church of its own catholic identity. How does the church's identity as a migrant church foster a healthy catholicity in the church's worship? This session will include the use of salsa music to invite participation in a more catholic way of life, asking what multicultural, cross cultural, and intercultural ways of being a church on the move might look like in worship.
As inhabitants of the modern age, we are deeply marked by skewed ways of thinking that thwart our humanness, our involvement with the world, and our spirituality. This is a philosophical tune-up that directly challenges and dispels modernity’s implicit philosophy. My philosophical proposals in my 2023 book Doorway to Artistry target the creative process, but they positively affect and bring healing to all arenas of life and work and worship. I pose that we as human persons are meant to live out a joyous “yes” to the real, and our involvement with the real takes the form of intimate encounter and communion. My approach reflects especially on God’s creative act and God’s created things. It taps epiphany, the redemptive encounter, and the Eucharist as paradigms for our knowing, our artistry, and all our everyday involvement with the world, so it should make us better at our stewardly dominion and voicing creation’s praise in worship.
Explore the compelling beauty of the Bible's covenantal vision of the divine-human relationship and the transformative difference this makes for how we worship the triune God. This session will feature insights from the authors of two influential books: Esther Lightcap Meek's Loving to Know: A Covenantal Epistemology and Daniel Block's Covenant: The Framework of God's Grand Plan of Redemption.
While Christian baptism is predominantly a transcultural practice, distinct faith communities worldwide experience this initiation rite through unique contextualizing elements. Join us in a fascinating conversation with Christian leaders from five continents about the rich cultural diversity reflected in baptismal liturgies, imagery, and practices, and how they shape Christian life in their contexts.
